February 10, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, on behalf of the Sisters and Associates, issued the following statement, decrying the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the negative implications this action could have on the lives of vulnerable people throughout the world.
As women of faith who believe in the inherent dignity of all persons and are impelled by the Gospel call to love our neighbors, we are deeply distressed by the Trump Administration’s actions to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This is the agency responsible for making real our core American value of caring for others in need by providing humanitarian aid to vulnerable neighbors throughout our common Earth home. Because of its broader influence, the dismantling of USAID is having a devastating impact on the entire humanitarian aid sector – with frightening life-or-death implications for people in dire need around the world, especially women and children.
For decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, this agency has provided vital aid to help end chronic poverty, combat the spread of infectious diseases and reverse environmental degradation. It has been on the frontlines of global emergencies, providing disaster relief following earthquakes, floods, droughts, typhoons and the ravaging effects of wars. Care packages have been delivered worldwide under the name “of the American people.”
To help carry out its mission, USAID contracts many private and public organizations, including groups like Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The shutting down of USAID has “set off a domino effect” on other aid providers, according to the New York Times, with at least 10,000 American jobs in the humanitarian sector already gone. According to news reports, program shutdowns and layoffs at CRS have already begun in response to the funding freeze. American farmers are also among those impacted as they supply more than 41% of food aid that USAID sends around the world, per the Washington Post.
A court order has temporarily restrained the dismissal of nearly 3,000 USAID employees, including those stationed overseas with their families. They are now all in legal limbo awaiting a court determination that could take weeks or months to resolve.
Our hearts ache for all the good public servants and their partners in the humanitarian aid sector who have dedicated their lives to helping others and are now facing unjustifiable job losses. We are anguished by the impact of the freezing of funds that the American people through lawful acts of Congress have designated for ending famines, halting the spread of HIV, providing disaster relief, and offering other urgently needed humanitarian aid.
We call on members of Congress to exercise their constitutional authority over the nation’s revenue and immediately reinstate the funding that Congress appropriated for USAID. This expenditure represents less than one-half of 1 percent of total government spending – yet it has enormous implications for the common good of God’s people and planet.
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Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council are Sisters Elise D. García, OP, Prioress; Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, and Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilors; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor.